


We've Come a Long Way

by ATotalNightmare



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Arthur fucking dies, Blood, Gore, and becomes a ghost, author has no clue what they're doing, fucking rip lol, ghost!arthur, i can't believe arthurs fucking dead lol what a loser, i have no clue what i'm doing, i just joined this fandom, i've written so much and y e t, kind of?, press f in chat folks, welcome to me hyperfixating, yeehaw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:39:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18105107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATotalNightmare/pseuds/ATotalNightmare
Summary: Arthur, Lewis, Vivi and Mystery had all been great friends, and Arthur loved them, even when they never really heeded his protests against going somewhere dangerous. And that is exactly what lead to all this happening. Arthur got possessed and pushed Lewis off a cliff, had their memories erased and changed, Arthurs arm was lost, etc. And Arthur has been through a lot at this point. But this... This is not what he'd ever expected.





	We've Come a Long Way

      The last thing Arthur knew was that he'd been falling, and the mysterious spirit trying to kill him was his once best friend, Lewis. The Ghost had just chucked him off of the cliff edge as if Arthur was the worst thing known to man. And the last thing he'd seen was the skeleton glaring down at him, and right after that, pain, and the sensation of something large going through him, before everything had gone black. You'd think that that was it, that maybe he'd have gone to heaven, or maybe even hell. If they even existed, that is. Or if you're that type of person. But either way, one would normally think that that was just it. Nothing else. Hell, even Arthur thought that. But...

 

That was the thing.

 

It  _wasn't_. 

 

      He still felt the pain. It was... more of a dull ache now than anything, really. It was... weird. If he was dead, then shouldn't he not feel anything? Or was he still impaled by that spike, slowly bleeding out until he really did die? He still felt his own body, too, so maybe he really was slowly bleeding out. But the weirdness definitely didn't stop there, nope. Not with Arthurs luck. For some odd reason, he felt like he was laying on his back, on the ground, on cold, hard stone. He could feel it as if he were dunked in ice cold water in the middle of a hot summer day. And even weirder, he could  _feel_ with his left arm. He had been unable to feel anything with it ever since he lost it, even if he made himself a metal prosthetic. Was Athur actually dead? Well, if he was thinking, maybe he was in the astral plane himself or he was still alive. Or... something. Arthur thought, and decided to open his eyes.

      The sight of a pink cave greeted him, along with a seemingly empty cliff. Spikes surrounded him on all sides, pointing upwards as if begging for someone to fall down. And that was the thing. Arthur  _had_ fallen, and he knew he'd gotten impaled by one of those pink spikes...  _so why wasn't he impaled_? Yes, he could sure as hell feel the pain, but he wasn't on one of those pointed rocks. Not that he wanted to be, the thought alone made him sick. Hoisting himself up, grunting, Arthur sat up, glancing around. Something caught his eye. A single spike, pointing directly upwards, was covered in blood. It seemed to be slightly dry, indicating that whatever that was there had been taken off not too long ago. But... but the only people that had been there was him and... and Lewis. Lewis had thrown him off the edge... So that blood...

 

That blood was  _his_.

 

      Arthur felt nauseous, at the sight. That... that was  _his own fucking blood_. How the  _hell_ did he get from  _there_ to  _here_?! Panic rose within him, and he gripped at his torn pants, leaning forward, only to come to the sight of his now-skeletal hands. A scream rose in his throat- _did he even have a throat?!_ -and he scooted back wildly, before konking his head against a stalagmite. Pain shot through his skull, a groan escaping his mouth. Arthur brought a hand up to the back of his head to nurse it, only to come into contact with more bone. He felt a panic attack begin to rise in his chest, tears filling his eyes-eyesockets?-to the brim. He shook, before desperately trying to remember whatever breathing exercises he read online. He took in deep breaths, even though he probably didn't need to breathe, and it helped just enough to actually get his thoughts back into control. Taking in more deep breaths, Arthur shakily stood, leaning against a stalagmite for support. He trembled. He... He needed to get out of here. He needed to find an exit. But as he looked around more, past the spikes, there were none. 

 

Except for the cliff he fell from. 

 

      Arthur-somehow-gulped at the mere thought of trying to get up there, fear making his-probably nonexistant-heart pound. How the hell was he going to leave?! Unless he floated, if he was dead and a ghost, but he didn't know  _how_. He gripped the collar of his shirt, and ran a hand over his orange vest, before feeling something missing. Looking down towards the left side of his chest, and seeing a  _literal hole in his chest_. He shouldn't be surprised, considering he was literally  _impaled_ not too long ago, but it still shocked him, actually seeing it. And not only that, but a purple heart floated there, directly over the bloody wound.

 

The color reminded him of Lewis.

 

      A choke rose in his throat, a silent sob exiting his nonexistant throat. A hand rose up to his mouth-upper jaw?-as tears flowed down his cheeks. Lewis... Lewis  _killed_ him. He thought... Arthur thought that Lewis had been  _missing_ , not  _dead_. And why did Lewis want him dead? Why did Lewis kill him?  _Why_? The more Arthur thought about it, the more and more it hurt. Betrayal and hurt stung his heart like a bee sting, making another sob rise out of his throat. The sound of glass cracking disrupted his thoughts, and he looked back down towards the heart. It was cracked, now, and duller than it'd been before. Removing the hand from his mouth and gently taking the heart off of his chest, he gazed at the odd purple object. Arthur didn't even know if it counted as an object. Running a thumb over it, it clicked open, much like a locket would. A surprised hum emanated from his would-be mouth, and he observed the picture inside. It only served to bring more hurt to him.

      The picture was the same one on his laptop background, the one of all of them at Lewis's familys diner. It was taken before Lewis died, before he'd gotten his metal arm, before the adventure to the cave. It was a happy image full of bright colors and joyful faces. Of course, his own face was the only one that was startled. Arthur remembered being called a scaredy-cat for being scared by the sound of a picture being taken. Vivi had meant well by it, but it only reminded him of his own shortcomings. He'd always been an anxious person, always being teased for it. He'd always jump at the littlest of things, and had many irrational fears when he was younger. He'd gotten over most of them over time, mostly thanks to being dragged along by Vivi on their ghostly adventures. He'd always ended up in a ton of danger, usually hurt or kidnapped. Of course, he'd always be saved... but that one time... Someone had died. Specifically his best friend, Lewis. And now, he was, too.

      Sighing, Arthur closed the locket-heart-thing. It still stayed cracked and dull. Wiping the rest of the tears from his eyes, he looked back up towards the cliff. He looked away again, unable to keep his gaze on it. He still hurt, no matter what he did. Arthur rubbed at his sockets, feeling exhausted. He planned on just laying back down and sleeping, but he felt something nudge against his arm.  _What...?_ Looking towards his arm, he saw... a small ghost. It was orange, with a purple heart. It had a sad expression on it's face, and it was clinging to his arm. Normally, Arthur would feel spooked... But he was just so damn tired. Instead, he patted the small orange head, a strange purr emanating from it. Looking back up towards the cliff, he glanced around it, trying to find places where he could climb up the sides. Finally finding footholds and handholds, Arthur forced himself to grab each one and climb upwards. He was exhausted, and felt like he might pass out, but damn it, if he were to sleep, he'd rather be far away from here!

      After what seemed like forever, Arthur finally reached the top, and hauled himself up, grunting. Flopping onto his back when he found flat ground, Arthur panted tiredly. He was  _never_ doing that again. Hauling himself up again, Arthur found that the ghost still clung to him, now looking more curious and less sad than before. He also found several more of them clinging to him. He jumped at the sight, not expecting it.  _What the hell?!_ Where did all these ghosts come from?! Besides, did they even count as ghosts? What were these things? Shaking his head clear of questions he'd probably not get answers to, he continued to walk. Along the way, he swore he heard whispers, asking  _"Are you one of us?"_ It... creeped him out, to say the least. He'd always hated ghosts and the supernatural, after all.

      The area transitioned from a cave, to a hallway, and then eventually came to what looked like the back of a semi-truck. Arthur shuddered. Everyone... Everyone could be outside. Lewis, Vivi, Mystery, Lance... he had no clue what to do if he saw them. After all, he was probably dead to them. They... probably had his corpse. Exactly how long had it been since he'd died? Taking a deep breath, Arthur reasoned with himself. If he didn't do this now, it'd probably have worse consequences than doing this later. And besides... he didn't want to stay in this place. 

Arthur gulped, and finally, willed himself to take a step outside.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry if this is bad, or started to become bad towards the end, i got really tired like when i got through half of this and got distracted too. so, hope you enjoy either way??


End file.
